Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly looks at his notebook in the dugout before the game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. / Tommy Gilligan, USA TODAY Sports

by Paul White, USA TODAY Sports

by Paul White, USA TODAY Sports

WASHINGTON â?? The Los Angeles Dodgers can breathe a sigh of relief Tuesday when Clayton Kershaw pitches for the first time in more than six weeks, but unless the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner has expanded his resume, all is not necessarily right with the Dodgers' world.

"It's nice to hopefully get some consistency," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly says of having his two-time Cy Young winner, ERA champ and strikeout leader back on the mound. "But our starting pitching has been pretty good."

"This" is an 18-14 record, good for a wild-card position in the NL standings but just third place in the West. If not for a 7-1 record against the Arizona Diamondbacks, baseball's worst team this season, the Dodgers would have more to worry about.

The injury list has topped the concerns to this point, but Kershaw on the mound against the Washington Nationals is part of a tide turning at least away from physical concerns to performance issues.

Kershaw says he's ready to go with no restrictions after injuring the teres major muscle near his left shoulder during the opening day game March 22 in Australia â?? a Dodgers victory against the Diamondbacks.

"Hopefully, I'll be in there a long time â?? as long as I'm pitching well," Kershaw says.

Getting extended innings from his starters is high on Mattingly's wish list. The Dodgers' 114 bullpen innings this season rank second in the majors to Arizona.

"We really can't complain about what we've gotten from our starting pitching," Mattingly says. "I think early on they could have gone deeper into games, which would have taken some pressure off our bullpen."

That bullpen might seem average with a 3.79 ERA ranked 15th in the majors --but the Dodgers have allowed 23 ninth-inning runs this season, seven more than any other NL team.

Even with Kershaw back, there's another dent in the rotation, though the shoulder injury that put Hyun-Jin Ryu on the disabled list last week isn't as serious as feared.

Ryu visited team physician Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles on Monday and ElAttrache decided Ryu â?? 17-10 since joining the Dodgers at the beginning of last season â?? didn't even need an MRI.

Mattingly says Ryu is pain-free and will begin a throwing program Tuesday. He could be back on the rotation by the middle of the month.

Injured catcher A.J. Ellis could resume full baseball activities by the end of the week and be back from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee within a couple of weeks.

Mattingly said he's fairly optimistic Puig could be back in the lineup Tuesday.

But Mattingly isn't ready to predict an automatic turnaround even if his entire roster is ever intact.

"I can't sit here and say it's totally disappointing but can't really sit here and say we're happy," Mattingly says of the team's performance. "In general, our defense has let us down more than anything. And inconsistent offense has led to a few more losses."

The offense ranks fourth in the NL in runs per game and third in on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS) but was held to three or fewer runs in 10 of the first 21 games but they've averaged five runs a game since.

After the same number of games a year ago, the Dodgers were 13-19 and in the midst of an eight-game losing streak. And that all worked out with a division title.

"We're in the pack. We're OK," Mattingly says of trailing the first-place San Francisco Giants by 2 Â½ games. "Of course, you'd like to get off 21-6 but we're not 6-21 either. We've been playing OK. I think we're better than this."